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The murder of a young woman in Saalfelden, Pinzgau, on October 9th was not a case of domestic violence but a ritual killing - according to a report from broadcaster ORF Salzburg.

The body of a 20-year-old woman was found in a pool of blood in a man’s bathroom and police initially believed that she had been murdered by her boyfriend. A suspect, also 20, was arrested at the scene.

However the report from ORF Salzburg quotes unnamed sources who said the man raped and stabbed the woman, who was an acquaintance of his, and cut Nazi symbols into her skin with a knife.

The man is said to have been obsessed with “deviant thoughts” and spent a lot of time on internet chat forums.

Police spokesman Anton Schentz said he could not divulge any of the details of the case as it had already been handed over to the prosecutor's office.

The accused is reported to have said that he was not in a relationship with the murdered woman and that there had been no argument before he attacked her. Some of his neighbours reported hearing screaming from his apartment.